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Tag: Anna Maria Sound

Property owners seek stop to kayak tours

Property owners seek stop to kayak tours

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Residents Roger and Irene Alvarez are hoping for help from the legal system to prevent kayaking clients from Fun Florida Tours from trespassing on their property and causing what they call a nuisance.

In a complaint filed on March 29 in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Manatee County, the couple alleges that tours conducted by the company, which occur daily about every 1.5 hours from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., are causing irreparable harm to their quality of life and damaging their property.

The home at 201 North Harbor Drive is on an inlet off Anna Maria Sound called Sportsman’s Harbor, which borders a residential district in Holmes Beach. In the lawsuit, the couple alleges that the kayakers are loud, disruptive and damage their property by constantly grabbing onto and pushing off their dock, seawall and boat. The couple states that they’re concerned that someone could be hurt on their property during one of the tours, making it a liability issue for the private property owners. They also say they must constantly monitor the kayakers when the tours are brought by their home.

Property owners seek stop to kayak tours
A photo shows what a clear kayak tour with LEDs looks like on the water during a nighttime tour with Fun Florida Tours. – Submitted | Fun Florida Tours

In addition, they allege that the nighttime tours feature brightly illuminated kayaks which cause more of a disturbance, along with noise.

The couple is seeking damages of $50,001 along with an injunction to prevent the kayak tours from being conducted in Sportsman’s Harbor.

As of press time for The Sun, the case had no hearing date set, but was assigned to Judge D. Ryan Felix.

In an April 3 email from a Fun Florida Tours representative, an agent with Manatee 311 wrote that navigable waters of the state are not time-restricted for paddlers, with the exception of waters located entirely within a preserve or park property, which in Manatee County are open from sunrise to sunset.

The Fun Florida Tours website lists clear kayak tours during day and nighttime hours, along with a sunset tour, with the nighttime tours featuring kayaks with 10,000-lumen LED lights on the clear kayaks to help view sea life. The website also offers LED paddleboard tours around Anna Maria Island, though paddleboards are not mentioned in the lawsuit.

Boat operator cited for running illegal service

Boat operator cited for running illegal service

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Community News, Cortez.

CORTEZ – A U.S. Coast Guard Station Cortez law enforcement crew cited what they said was an illegal uninspected small passenger vessel-for-hire operating on Anna Maria Sound on Jan. 3.

According to a U.S. Coast Guard press release, the 22-foot boat was operating a ferry service to a short-term lodging sailboat with two people and three dogs as passengers. During the investigation, it was found that the unnamed operator was previously issued a Captain of the Port order in June 2023 for operating without a Coast Guard-issued captain’s license, a regulatory requirement.

“Short-term lodging vessels on the water are not illegal,” Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg Chief of Investigations Brian Knapp said. “If owners of short-term rentals provide transportation by way of a ferry service to and from the rental on the water, that is considered a passenger-for-hire operation, and the owner must be a credentialed mariner and follow the regulations for operating this type of service.”

“The crew was out on patrol and recognized the boat as one that had been stopped before,” Coast Guard spokesperson Nicole Groll said. “They boarded the boat and found that the operator was in violation. Because they were doing something they were told not to do, the boat was escorted back to shore.”

Groll declined to provide an incident report or identify the person who was cited.

“The case has been sent to the U.S. Attorney’s office and they will decide whether to pursue criminal charges,” Groll said. “Because they violated a Captain of the Port order, that is a federal offense.”

The boat was a 2008 22-foot Sea Hunt bow rider. The boat name was not visible in the Coast Guard release photo.

The operator of the boat was cited with the following violations:

• Violation of 46 CFR 15.605 for failing to have an uninspected passenger vessel under the command and control of a credentialed mariner;

• Violation of 46 CFR 16.201 for failure of the operator to be enrolled in a drug testing consortium;

• Violation of 33 CFR 160.105 for failure to comply with a Captain of the Port order.

“Anyone paying for a trip on a vessel should ask to see the merchant mariner credential of the boat operator to verify they are properly licensed by the Coast Guard to operate that vessel as the captain,” Knapp said. “If the captain can’t produce their license, don’t get on the boat.”

Groll said that a Coast Guard civil hearing will be scheduled to determine any potential fines.

Owners and operators of illegal charter vessels can face maximum civil penalties of over $60,000 for illegal passenger-for-hire operations. Charters that violate a Captain of the Port order can face a maximum penalty of $111,031. Some potential fines for illegally operating a charter vessel are:

• Up to $22,324 for failure to operate a passenger vessel without a merchant mariner credential;

• Up to $9,086 for failure of operators to be enrolled in a drug testing program;

• Up to $5,661 for failure to provide a Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection for vessels carrying more than six passengers;

• Up to $19,324 for failure to produce a valid Certificate of Documentation for vessels over 5 net tons.

Anyone suspecting a vessel of violating the law is asked to report the alleged violation to U.S. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg at 727-502-8720.

Legislation imperils local waters

Reel Time: Legislation imperils local waters

Written by Rusty Chinnis on . Posted in Fishing, Outdoors, Reel Time.

At a time when the need to move water quality issues in a positive direction should be crystal clear, decisionmakers (and, by default, the citizens who elected them) are weakening protections that are the basis of the region’s economy. After several years of record harmful algae blooms (red tide, lyngbya, blue-green algae) and the unprecedented mega release of toxic effluent from the Piney Point disaster, it’s almost unbelievable that newly enacted state laws are making it harder to protect critical waters.

A bill that was recently signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis prohibits local governments from “adopting or amending a fertilizer management ordinance” during the 2023-24 budget year. The legislation restricts the ability of local municipalities and counties to restrict fertilizer use during the rainy season (May 15 to Oct. 3). Instead, they are now required to depend on less restrictive regulations developed by the University of Florida and supported by the state’s phosphate industry, the producers of fertilizer. It’s another nod to industry over the common good. The bill, which was quietly tucked into the budget without comment from the public, is defended by proponents since it only lasts for a year while the university studies the impact of the revised rule. This move appears to be nothing more than a gift to the fertilizer industry that has been losing revenue since 2000. Before the law was enacted, Gil Smart, executive director of advocacy group VoteWater, stated, “Fertilizer control is a key tool for local governments grappling with water quality problems. If this stands, it just opens the door to even more nutrients in our waterways and more problems. It’s unconscionable.” (Mary Allen Klas, Tampa Bay Times, May 2, 2022)

When I contacted Smart about the newly-enacted bill, he added, “I can also say this fertilizer study is an obvious precursor to legislative attempts to weaken fertilizer ordinances across Florida. I’d expect to see legislation to that effect as early as next session.”

Local anglers see first-hand what devastation excess nutrients from a myriad of sources, including fertilizer, wreak on the waters of Anna Maria Sound. Capt. Justin Moore understands the issue firsthand. Moore fishes over 200 days a year and sees the changes happening before his eyes.

“I have lots of customers who love to fish and have young children,” he said. “If they want their kids able to fish, we need to address this issue at the ballot box. What I’m seeing makes me afraid that we’re close to losing it all if we’re not careful. New and existing businesses on the Island and beyond need to know that a catastrophic red tide bloom (scientifically linked to excess nutrients) could devastate their business.”

If this wasn’t a big enough blow to efforts to protect water quality and vital marine habitat, Senate Bill 540 might signal the final nail in the coffin of common-sense reform. According to Samantha Wassmer, marketing and communications specialist for Suncoast Waterkeeper, “Along with the new restriction on fertilizer, the state Legislature delivered Senate Bill 540 and Senate Bill 1258/House Bill 1191 to the governor’s desk. Senate Bill 540 threatens ordinary Floridians with financial ruin for exercising their right to legally challenge bad development decisions. Specifically, citizens who challenge comprehensive plan amendments would be forced to pay the attorney fees and costs of the prevailing local government and developers if they lose their challenge. Senate Bill 1258 approves the use of radioactive waste called phosphogypsum in road construction, giving a free pass for industry to produce even more fertilizer that ultimately flushes into and pollutes our local waterways. Gov. DeSantis signed SB 540 on May 24, 2023, and has yet to take any action on SB 1258 which, as a result, automatically went into effect on July 1.”

Dave Tomasko, executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, has a broader viewpoint as a scientist and brings another perspective to the issue.

“Municipalities are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up Sarasota Bay and isotopic signatures show the presence of fertilizer-derived nitrogen in bay waters. Since there are no agricultural sources of nitrogen in the adjacent watershed it’s an indication that the nitrogen is from residential sources. If you want a bright green lawn, you must be willing to accept a bright green bay,” Tomasko said. “Since no one wants that, every citizen in the watershed must step up and do their part.”

In the end, the message seems clear to this advocate. If we are to protect this special place we love, it will require the voters to elect lawmakers who represent the people. Our state legislators and the governor have failed us to date.